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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23337727">Shock To My System</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spacecadet72/pseuds/Spacecadet72'>Spacecadet72</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cinderella (2015)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 07:28:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,188</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23337727</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spacecadet72/pseuds/Spacecadet72</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>No one tells you what comes after Happily Ever After.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Prince Charming/Cinderella (Disney)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>71</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Shock To My System</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/TacoCat19/gifts">TacoCat19</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was written for tacocat19, an amazing friend of mine who gave me a list of songs to choose from for a prompt. I chose About Love by MARINA, which is also where the title comes from. </p>
<p>I hope you enjoy it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>No one tells you what comes after Happily Ever After. </p>
<p>That’s where all the stories end, with a kiss and the words <em>And they lived happily ever after.</em> They’d had the kiss, once they’d returned to the castle and found a moment of privacy. It had been gentle and tender, their feelings for each other coming out through soft sighs and even softer touches. </p>
<p>Kit had pulled back after several blissful moments, his forehead resting against hers, his smile as soft and carefree as hers. “I love you,” he said, his voice hushed and awed, and she believed him, but it felt heavy in the space between them.</p>
<p>She had said it back, had meant it, even as the words felt foreign in her mouth. They are words she hadn’t had reason to say for quite some time. </p>
<p>This is supposed to be it, the goal to which all young women aspire: marriage to a handsome man who is kind and tender and thinks the world of you. And as they walked hand in hand out of the small alcove they had found for their first kiss and first ‘I love you’s, Ella had thought she understood why this had seemed so important. </p>
<p>All she had really wanted was to get out from under her Stepmother’s control, to have the life she had known before back. But her parents were gone, and that wasn’t going to happen. Instead, she is embarking on a new life with Kit, and every new thing is so exciting at first. </p>
<p>She has never been in love before, has never had a beau, and Kit is a king, so it is understandably even more novel than she had expected. </p>
<p>The first few days, he is able to get out of meetings, and they spend their days walking around the palace garden talking over everything and nothing, telling each other stories from their lives. For all that she loves him, she doesn’t really know him, and these talks are precious, stories she keeps in her heart, for they explain the man she loves. </p>
<p>But after those first few days, Kit is unable to shirk his duties any further, and he leaves her at breakfast with a soft, lingering kiss and an apology in his eyes and on his lips. She tells him it is fine; she understands his duties and can entertain herself. </p>
<p>That is the plan, anyway, and one she plans to start in the library. She is found after half an hour by one of her new ladies’ maids, who insists she be brought to the palace seamstresses so they can start on her wedding dress, something befitting a Queen. </p>
<p>Ella’s eyes widen a little at that. She knows Kit is King and that when one marries a King, they become a Queen. But even as he’d asked if she would accept him in her life, he never actually asked her to marry him, and this was all moving so fast. </p>
<p>But she doesn’t want to make a fuss, and follows the ladies’ maid to the seamstress, who spends the next hour poking and prodding, measuring and muttering ideas to herself as she makes notes, but doesn’t ask for Ella’s input. </p>
<p>She is not sure this counts as <em>happily ever after</em> if she is not happy, but does not say anything until one day Kit, noticing her melancholy, sits her down and makes her tell him. </p>
<p>“My love,” he says, reaching up to cup her cheek with his hand. “What is wrong?”</p>
<p>She shakes her head, but leans into his hand. “Nothing, everyone has been so lovely.” </p>
<p>He looks at her with deep blue eyes that seem to see right through her. “That doesn’t mean there isn’t something wrong.”</p>
<p>She drops her gaze. She doesn’t want to be ungrateful for everything she has now, but he is waiting for a response and so she takes a deep breath and remembers her mother’s words: <em>courage and kindness.</em> </p>
<p>“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here,” she says, finally looking up to meet his eyes. She hadn’t enjoyed being a servant in her own home, but at least she knew what was expected of her there. “The castle is beautiful, and I’m so grateful for the lovely room and beautiful clothes, but I feel useless. I can’t be Queen. I’m just a simple country girl.” </p>
<p>“Oh, my love,” he breathes out as he looks at her. “I hadn’t thought about your needing an occupation. I am so sorry for leaving you to your worries amid this transition,” he says, his brow furrowed in concern. “And you are not simply anything,” he says with a soft smile. “I think a country girl is exactly what this kingdom needs.” </p>
<p>It is not a solution, not yet, but with his words a sense of calm washes over and she thinks it is a start. </p>
<p>Unable to voice her gratitude and love for him, she leans up and presses her lips softly to his. There will still be rough days ahead, but if she trusts him with her worries, everything will be alright. </p>
<p>They talk through the details of her days, and soon she is learning more about the kingdom, about how to rule and how to be more than just a beautiful woman to decorate her husband’s court. </p>
<p>Kit is adamant that she rules with him, and most of the castle staff are alright with this--she inspires love wherever she goes--but there are a few who need to be put in their place and he is more than happy to do so. </p>
<p>There are still dress fittings and more time spent on her hair than she thinks necessary, but she’s learning and meeting people and spending time with Kit and her days are a whirl of bright colors and more knowledge than she’s had access to in a long time. </p>
<p>She and Kit make sure to spend some time together every day, even if it is just over their daily meals. Through this, she begins to see more of the man she fell in love with, his strength and humor, his integrity and kindness. In return, she tells him of her childhood and more recent past, of the befores and afters, separated in her mind by her parent’s deaths. </p>
<p>Their bond only solidifies as they learn about the other, and what she had thought was love deepens into something true and real. This is the man she has chosen, and she stands by her decision with pride and happiness. </p>
<p>Soon enough, it is time for them to be wed, and she is standing with him at the front of the church in a beautiful gown, promising to love and cherish and obey until death. </p>
<p>“Are you ready?” she asks as they wait to greet their people for the first time as a married couple. </p>
<p>He smiles at her, his hand in hers a solid, comforting weight. “For anything, so long as it’s with you.” </p>
<p>No one tells you what comes after Happily Ever After, but Ella is realizing it might be her favorite part. </p>
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